University of Tennessee Athletics
#TailgateTuesday - Vol Alums Rock Rocky Top
October 28, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
-- For rivalry games, the tailgates arrive early and stay late. They are often the biggest of the year for the groups that assemble around them.And, with all apologies to homecoming, rivalry games like Tennessee-Alabama draw out-of-town alums for what may be their only chance of the season to have a reunion with family, college friends and friends that have become family.
"The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry means everything," said Caleb Clark, UT class of 2009. "It's what the SEC is all about. It's that old-school rivalry, one-on-one matchup, and you never know who's going to win. That's what makes it fun."
Clark was part of a gathering of Tennessee alums with ties to the Student Government Association that came together on the top level of the G-10 garage prior to the Vols and Tide.
"We have the Vol sprit and the Vol Alumnus that are backing us," 2010 graduate Krysta Brown said. "A lot of Vol alums from SGA past are here with us. A lot of us that served on SGA campaigns and SGA in general like to reunite for big games like this."
It is a party that started early in the morning and continued all the way through the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
"We started this morning with a little lunch, chicken tenders, salad, chips and dip," Jamil Price, class of 2010 said. "This afternoon, before kickoff we'll grill out with hamburgers and hot dogs."
The focal point of the tailgate that spanned three vehicles was the cooler, but not for the reasons you would think. Though it holds plenty of the necessary beverages to refresh guests through the day, the cooler's built-in speakers blasted out the soundtrack for the day.
The musical selection covered the usual range of traditional and pump-up music, including Rocky Top on repeat. There were also several tastes from one of Tennessee's newest musical traditions, Lil' Jon's "Turn Down for What."
"We have a cooler that plays music," Price said. "It's a really cool feature. It's really exciting and a lot of fun. We like to have a lot of energy, we're just excited to be Vols."
